Bitter chocolates


Life is a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Do you remember the famous lines from the movie Forrest Gump? Granted Forrest has a positive outlook. Therefore, he sees life has a box of chocolates. Some chocolates can be bitter. But it is how you respond to the bitterness. In this case, a friend narrated an incident where he figuratively bit into an unexpected variety of chocolate. This incident also illustrates that possessing a lot of money is not sufficient.

My friend was on official visit to the city of Hyderabad. He belongs to the senior management team, and he has visited the local facilities many times before. Besides, he grew up in India before migrating to the UK. So it is easy to navigate the city. Nevertheless, it is easy to move around any big in India these days. After the official duties were concluded, his friend, also from the UK, proposed a particular restaurant as the destination for dinner. This restaurant is not the first choice among visitors. What this restaurant lacks in ambiance, it makes up for the food.

Who can give up such an offer? You can throw money for ambiance and dining experience. But yummy food is a different ball game. So both of these gentlemen ended up in this little house of delight. And, delighted they were with the food. After a lot of empty dishes were taken away from the dinner table, they asked for the bill. When the bill came, it acted as an additional course of dessert. It was cheaper than their wildest dreams. They proceeded to pay with their card. At this point, they hit a minor roadblock. The payment was not accepted when they swiped the first card. When the denial repeated for the second card, the waiter said this restaurant does not accept foreign cards.

On hearing this disturbing news, they checked their wallets and found they carried insufficient cash. Soon, one of them went looking for an ATM while the other sat in the restaurant. After waiting for what it seems like an eternity, the one sitting in the restaurant offered to transfer pounds to the owner's account. But the staff insisted there was no need for such a transfer, and all of them will wait patiently. Again, a lot of time transpired, and the one who went looking for ATM came back with cash. It was not an easy task for him. None of the UK debit cards worked in that part of the world. Fortunately, he had an old Indian debit card. So he called up his brother to transfer money to it before withdrawing the necessary cash.

This incident is one of the chocolates which make you feel humble even after achieving great things in life. I am not against success. But even after being successful, there will be moments which will make you feel powerless. If you are aware of this little fact, then you can stay grounded.

Photo Courtesy: saurabh sharan

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